Last week I had the interesting experience of refurbishing and reusing a super record group that I took off of my racing bike in the late '80's. I decided that the group was certainly good enough to use on a rider, and mostly it was just dirty. But bicycle forensics is becoming a knee-jerk reflex for me, and I couldn't help but notice some things about the younger bike rider that used to use these parts in races. Some things that I certainly don't recall, and might be embarrassed to have 'em pointed out by someone else.

First, the guy spent much more time on the 42 than the 53. A lot more time, because the original campy ring had been replaced with a specialized, and the specialized was pretty much worn out too. The big ring looks pretty much spotless...hmmmm. Maybe I wasn't so tough, or maybe I just turned 'em over at 130 rpm all of the time. On a more positive note, the brake shoes were hardly worn at all. Fearless descender, too dumb to put on brakes in the crits, or what?

The seatpost is in really good shape, except some moron etched two different seat height marks into it. The second mark is about an inch lower than my current riding position, and the first mark is THREE inches lower! I know that it didn't go in a bigger frame; I still own the frame. I didn't grow taller, either. So that means I used to ride with my seatpost three inches further in the frame! Man, I don't want to think about what that fred looked like...

While the brake shoes look nearly new, the front brake bolt was bent about fifteen degrees out of straight. No marks on the caliper itself. How the heck did that happen? Two of the shoes were reversed, so that a pad from both brakes could have gone shooting out into space when I most needed it. Why, oh why, did I do that? Oh, yeah, and the levers are totally wasted. Hit the deck so many times that I just replaced 'em. Didn't want to hurt my fingers for the sake of nostalgia.

I can remember the guy at the bike shop rebuilding my rear derailleur after a major collision with a St. Bernard...but the derailleur shows no signs of rework. Actually looks pretty good. Do you think he just sold the young bozo a new one and told him it was reworked? dunno...

That's all the bad stuff. The good news is that, cleaned with a little Mother's, and the trashed stuff replaced with working parts, the group works just like new! All told, it was a pretty good investment in 1984...

About the seat post "3 inches above normal", I also recall that about my triathlon bicycle that was 10 years without use!

42th rings wearing out first is no surprise, a race bike was often the training bike, the 42 gets Used. Can you say hummingbird legs? I had to train with senior cat 1 riders and my biggest was a 47 x 15, whirrr. Bent brake pivot was very common, it would bend before a caliper arm would, a Campagnolo arm. brake probably did not squeak either. Regarding the seat post, did you change a saddle, perhaps from or to a traditional leather vs. a Cinelli or similar? That could account for 2 to 3cms. I was given a Nuovo Record rear mechanism when I was a starving college student, take evrything but the pivots off, some leather a spare section of 10mm rod...a bench vise and presto, a working rear, still in use today.

No comment regarding the brake blocks...

The saddle might account for 2-3 cm, sure, but he's talking about 2-3 INCHES! Did you maybe get an ass transplant at some stage?

If one rides properly, the inner chainring of a road double will wear out first. If the chain has been properly maintained and periodically replaced, worn chainrings may be a good first indicator of cumulative metal figure of the cranks themselves. I replaced the original Ofmega CX cranks on my Bianchi because the first owner had worn out one 42T ring and I was on the verge of wearing out its replacement.

Luker,

As consolation...

If anyone asks, you replaced the 53 twice... But the second time you decided to go with Campy since the Specialized wore out too quickly.

As for the brake pad reversal... I think it was intentional. You decided that you never wanted to hit the brakes hard, so you intentionally sabotaged the brakes to compensate in case you ever used them in a moment of weakness.

a little later, after I switched the group out for dura ace, I adopted the big ring school of thinking. That is, one pulled the left lever back in March and didn't push it forward until October. If you ever saw me on the little ring back then, that meant that I'd been dropped and was just pedaling home. Which, when I think about it, happened quite a lot.

My favorite comeback when talking smack at the starting line: "...I've been dropped by better girls than you..."